Dawn of the Republic
by Chaos Marine Matt
Summary: The prequal to my planned rewrite of New Beginnings:Effect of the Force. This will be the story that sets the stage for the coming stories which will flesh out the history of the republic before we get down to curb stomping the turians. Presently on hold.
1. The first Jump

_**Hello all, Chaos Marine Matt here with the first chapter of my rewritten epic. I hope you all enjoy as I tell the true story of the Republic and it's trials and tribulations. This first arc will set the stage and introduce characters that will be used in all the different arcs I have planned. **_

**_We will start at the beginning of the Divergence into crossover, where the future of the Mass Effect universe was changed forever._**

**_The creation of the Hyper-drive._**

* * *

_"You'd be surprised how many of our greatest discoveries are accidental, I have no doubt that fire was discovered because one caveman tripped and scraped his flint axe down the cave wall and created sparks, accidentally setting the man's bedding alight." - unknown_

* * *

Septemeber 22nd, 2024

CCP headquarters, Reykjavik, Iceland

"YOU DID WHAT?" Eric Marlene shouted at the top of his lungs. The individual he was shouting at, his lab assistant Marie Duvoir, quailed slightly under the aging scientist's wrath.

"I-I just corrected one of the calculations you were typing into the engine's computer core. It wouldn't have worked otherwise." Marie said quietly, stuttering slightly. The scientist immediately felt awful for yelling at his assistant, he'd hired the girl for this exact reason, to catch any mistakes he'd made. He sighed and pushed his glasses up his lined nose. Eric hated scaring the help.

"Look, I'm sorry for yelling at you. I'm just a little stressed from the pressure we're under at the moment. The Board of Director's are planning on pulling our funding next month if the warp drive doesn't work at the test." Eric reassured his frightened assistant.

They were the last two researchers in the FTL research division at CCP industries. A company commonly known for it's popular video games. But the company's aspirations lay a little higher then simply huge profit margins. No, CCP wanted to go to the stars. They were already pioneers in orbital infrastructure, responsible for the materials breakthrough that led to the plans for a space elevator in japan. The construction company in charge had been given near unlimited funding by the japanese government, allowing them the resources and man power to actually complete the building this century.

CCP's current plans were to eclipse every other company and government by producing an FTL drive before all of the others. But the funding for such a thing was quickly running out, and the Board of Directors were thinking of turning to other, more profitable ventures. Astroid mining was rapidly becoming a possibility with new advances in drive systems that were rapidly replacing the chemical rockets of yester-year. The first company to ply the bountiful asteroids near earth would easily rise to the top of the fortune five-hundred companies. CCP's orbital station, the first of it's kind to maintain gravity through centrifugal force, would act as the base for the mining project.

Eric had come forward years ago with the opening calculations he'd had for a viable warp drive to CCP. They had quickly snapped him up and gave him a team of researchers which allowed them to rapidly advance Eric's initial calculations and actually begin building a prototype. But, as with all things, frugal corporate budgeting had slowly drained researcher's and resources from his project. Forcing them to cut corners on the drive that Eric never wanted to cut.

Oh, the drive would certainly work, but any and all safety devices except for the bare minimum to keep the vessel functional had been stripped so they weren't missing anything important from the prototype probe, say the power plant for example.

"Don't worry Dr. Marlene, I've run over the final calculations and checked everything. We can hook up the drive to the probe with no problems. Doctor, we're on the cusp of the future. Imagine it, you'll be the Zefram Cochrane of our reality. You'll get a Noble peace prize for sure!" Marie said happily as she thought of the future. Eric smirked at the apt comparison to the fictional scientist of Star Trek fame.

The two researchers gently picked up the prototype drive, which looked for all intents and purposes like wheel with dozens of blinking lights, and carefully carried it over to the probe on the other side of the lab. The probe was simple and composed of three parts. The fore section of the probe being very cubular and containing the probe's computer core and long range transmitter. The middle section containing a cylindrical housing for the drive as well as it's hydrogen burning power plant. The aft section containing the probes regular propulsion system, an xenon powered ion drive.

With some careful maneuvering and deft welding. The drive was locked into place in it's housing. The drive didn't actually move, it wasn't designed for that. Instead, the drive manipulated space and time around the craft, allowing the craft to... ignore certain laws of physics in favor of speed, the ship around the drive still needed a form of propulsion. Otherwise it would simply sit still in space while manipulating the universe around it. This heavily influenced the decision behind the type of propulsion put on the vessel. In the end, Eric decided to mount a xenon drive on the probe as it was much more efficient at fuel consumption, which meant that the probe would cost less and might actually make the corporate heads happy with cost effective FTL.

Unfortunately, all of this was mere supposition and theory until they got out and tested the drive. So Eric decided to stop wasting time and put in a call to corporate and told them they were ready to begin the final tests. A number of men came into his lab and began moving the probe out the door with Eric and Marie looking on. Watching as the potential "Next Leap" for mankind was drug out of their lab and towards the loading dock. Where it would be loaded onto a truck and taken to CCP's launch site outside of Reykjavik. One of CCP's three reusable spacecraft would take the probe to the orbital test facility.

This station would serve as the launch point of Eric's probe, where the probe would spin up it's drive for the first time and do one of two things. Either usher in a new age of exploration and expansion for humanity. Or prove to be a crushing waste of time and resources as some of the Board of Directors feared it would be.

Eric had faith though, everything would change after today.

* * *

Marie was excited, nay, she was ecstatic. Not only was the probe they'd just finished being tested today. But she was going to get to watch it perform it's first jump from Centerpoint station! So called due to the cylindrical shape of the continuously rotating station. It was the result of a successful project to create a station with gravity in space. And it was also the wet dream of every science geek to be able to spend time on the marvel of modern technology. Now she got to watch one of her projects launch from Centerpoint's observation deck!

Currently, Marie and Eric were strapping into their seats on the Skylon spaceplane that would carry them to the station in geo-stationary orbit. The passenger carrying model had been a joint development between Reaction Engines Limited and CCP. The spaceplane only had the range to reach Geostationary orbit, making refueling stops extremely necessary for any planes carrying supplies or scientists to the international moonbase on Luna.

Eric watched in bemusement as the girl fumbled her buckle a number of times, trying to hastily strap into her seat. She was obviously very excited, and had good reason to be.

"Ready to go?" Eric asked as he adjusted his headrest to better support his head.

"Ready and raring to go! I just wish my girlfriend could come." The excitable girl said as she finally adjusted her buckle properly.

Eric thought back to the one time he'd met Marie's girlfriend, a nice girl by the name of Abela who happened to love science as much as Marie, but was more artistically inclined. Marie was right, Abela would've loved to watch the launch.

Any further conversation was stalled by the pilot.

"All passengers, we're starting our launch sequence. If you are not in your seat, please reach it as swiftly as possible for we are not liable for any injuries sustained out of your seat. Flight attendants prepare for launch." The experienced sounding pilot ordered over the intercom.

Marie watched out the window, looking out to the future.

Eric pulled out a pad of paper and got to work on a speech he might need to give, on the off-chance his FTL drive worked and he got to keep his job.

* * *

The spaceplane docked with Centerpoint station, locking into the station's gravity well and returning the sense of downward pull to the plane's occupants. The first off the plane were a Scientist and his assistant, here to make history and eat soup in zero gravity. Followed swiftly by a number of corporate executives, who were already counting the money they'd make from this venture. But of special note was the last person to step off the docked plane and into Centerpoint. She was tall, with her shoulder length black hair tied up into a bun so it wouldn't obstruct her piercing dark eyes. Her pale skin held a luster that one would expect from a star, holding a near luminescence of it's own in the right light. Her eye catching countenance and athletic figure should have drawn the eyes of most any man ( and a fair amount of women as well) but she got barely a moment's notice from anyone. In fact, it was almost as if one didn't notice her unless they were specifically looking for her, and no one was. So the women left unnoticed, her brown robe billowing behind her as she walked towards the elevators.

She had a schedule to keep and work to do.

Such was the life of a Jedi Knight.

* * *

The observation lounge was packed with people. In one corner, scientists traded hypothesis with engineers while assistants gathered in little groups, trading horror stories of their bosses and the disproportionate revenge they took in light of small pranks. On the other side of the room was a collection of powerful, high profile people. CEO's, executive bureaucrats, and in one instance a crime boss all mingled, drank, and told stories of other times they'd mingled and in the midst of all of this, Marie Duvoir leaned against a railing and sipped at a sparkling apple cider as she waited for the probe to launch, the twinkling starlight casting a brilliant glow across her dusky skin. Marie felt somewhat lonely at the unveiling party. None of the people she cared for were at the party, with her girlfriend and colleagues mostly on earth or in the case of her boss working in another part of the station. The people at the party were one of two things. They were either politely disdainful from their lofty perches of years of academic study or monetary gain, or were... _unpleasant,_ as a young man would soon prove himself to be.

A young man in a well tailored suit slowly walked up to the lone girl. She was quite pretty by his standards, with rich dark skin the color of night, a modest bust, and a face that reminded him of Martha Jones from Doctor Who. He simply had to introduce himself to the beautiful girl, for no girl should suffer from a lack of contact with him.

"Well hello there, Meridian Hock at your humble service. And might I say you are a delight to the eyes." Meridian purred at Marie. If boys in any way had interested the girl, she might have blushed at his compliment. She decided to sip at her drink instead.

Slightly perturbed that a girl was giving him the cold shoulder, Meridian tried again.

"I guess you might hear this from anyone, but the stars do not match the beauty in your eyes." Meridian tried again, much to Marie's annoyance.

"Look... I appreciate the compliments, but you're barking up the wrong tree." Marie said in an effort to chase the man away politely.

"How so? Is your boyfriend around?" Meridian asked, looking around for another male giving him a death glare.

"**Girl**friend, and I'm afraid she's back on earth. Boys hold no interest for me." Marie said, expecting him to walk away in disgust or politely remove himself from the situation. She was wrong.

"Ah, one of those." He said in disappointment, then a vile smirk crossed his mouth. "One night with me and you'll change your tune." Meridian said lowly as he began to stalk closer. Marie backed up and looked around desperately for someone to be paying attention. No one was. She prepared to fight.

"Excuse me sir, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave her alone" A quiet voice said from the side. A gorgeous woman stepped up, a scowl marring her face. She was tall and dark haired, wearing a brown robe with a white tunic, cream pants and brown boots. Meridian looked over with a lust darkened gaze to see the subtle curves and lithe body underneath her concealing clothing

"I don't think you know who I am, leave now or you'll loose your job." he said arrogantly as he obviously ogled the new woman. She was not amused.

"I'm Bultar Swan, head of Center Point Security. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave." the security officer said, only an ounce of perceptible threat in her voice. That was more then enough to chase the lecherous man off as his sense of self-preservation kicked in. His father had not been happy the last time he'd done something like this and he didn't want to piss off the legendary Donovan Hock.

Meridian Hock left with a storm of grumbling and Marie felt a distinct sense of relief as Bultar stared after the man, making sure he left. Once Meridian had left the room for one of the other observation lounges she turned to Marie.

"Are you all right miss?"

"I am, thank you. He had... designs on me."

"It's no problem. I know his type, thinks he's god's gift to women everywhere and the savior of lesbians from the hell of homosexuality. Arrogant prick." Bultar said, a small amount of disgust creeping into her voice.

"Uggh, we've all dealt with that guy at one point in our lives." Marie agreed.

"Hopefully we don't have to deal with them again afterwards." Bultar added. A quiet began to settle between them

"So... your parents named you Bultar? Were they big star wars fans?" Marie asked in an attempt to break the calm. Bultar chuckled at that.

"You could say that. I'm surprised that you know about Bultar Swan, she's not exactly a mainstream jedi."

"I always liked how she did her best to not kill someone, it really made her a Jedi in my eyes. All of the others were either far to passive or aggressive." Marie replied two women discussed their joint fandom, debating the pros and cons of various Jedi until a soft chime roused the room from their respective conversations.

"Ladies and Gentleman, the final tests and checklists have been completed. We will begin the launch sequence in two minutes." an announcer said over the intercom.

Little did the women know that they would both be important in the events yet to come.

* * *

WD-0001 awaited orders, sitting quietly in it's berth in the launch bay of Center Point station. The small drone had no way of knowing how important it's future was to humanity.

A data stream sent from command told it it's marching orders.

A hiss sounded throughout the small bay as the Drone detached itself from it's clamps and was lifted up by the hanger's manipulator arm. The arm clamped around the fore and aft sections of the drone and gently carried it through the blast doors that lead to the vastness of space. Once in the vacuum of space, the arm let the drone go and retreated within the hangar.

With a flare of energy, the drone's ion drive powered up and began to gradually propel itself forward, making several course corrections as it found a path to dark space that was unobstructed by planets or debris. With an arcane hum, the drone's exotic drive began to activate. Calculations quickly ran through the drone's mind as it prepared to make history.

Then the drive did something weird. Instead of bending space and time around the drone, it shifted the drone out of space and time entirely! The drone continued to accelerate, going faster and faster as it left the now defunct concept of the light speed barrier behind.

The drone shut down it's drive only a mere 10 seconds after it started, only to find itself far, far away from where it was supposed to be.

Strictly speaking, the drone had traveled eight light minutes. Which meant that the drone had gone 48 times the speed of light in the ten seconds it had been traveling.

WD-0001 felt something strange in the depthes of it's circuits, the feeling was gone a moment later so WD-0001 dismissed it as an anomaly while it began to calculate the necessary return calculations for the jump home.

If it'd been human, it would've known the anomaly for what it was.

Joy.

* * *

"Something's wrong." Marie said as she looked out to where the drone had disappeared from.

"How could it possibly be wrong? You did it!" Bultar said, a note of wonder in her voice as she continued to stare at the spot where the drone had jumped into FTL, looking for all intents and purposes like a hyperspace jump.

"From the calculations I did, the drone should've only gone two or three times the speed of light. The drone should still be on the sensors, but I've looked over the LADAR and I can't find any sign of the drone." Marie said as she continued to look over the reports sent to her ILINK.

Much to the surprise of everyone in the lounge, the drone returned. One moment there was nothing but empty space, the next, the drone had slipped back into sight. It's comm unit connecting with the station's computers. Relaying it's report for the distance traveled and time taken. Much to the shock of it's creators.

How could the drone travel so far so quickly?

* * *

_**I feel terrible for cutting it off here, but I felt like the chapter was dragging on too long for it's purposes. A fair amount of the main character's have been introduced and the event has occurred. Things are going to start happening as soon as I can put fingers to keyboard.**_

_**May your days be long and your hardships few.**_


	2. Dimension hopping and Planning

**_Hey everyone, I'd like it to be known to everyone who reads this story that I'm accepting OC's. If you have an idea for a character, PM me with the character's specifics if you have a character you want to appear in the story. _**

**_This week on Dawn of the Republic, we find out what the hell the warp drive actually does and how expansive the Jedi order actually is._**

**_I OWN NOTHING SO PLEASE DON'T SUE._**

* * *

"What the hell am I looking at?" Project manager Stephen Wieck said as he walked into the FTL research lab. The lab looked like it'd had an explosion of mathematical equations over every available surface. A whole row of blackboards covered the back wall, every available inch of space being used for equations. A large chunk of the lab floor had erasable marker covering it, with all the usual tables and desks being pushed out of the way so there would be more space to work with.

The chief(read:only) scientist of this division had his back scrunched up against the wall as he wrote out ever greater strings of numbers, having literally written himself into a corner. He finished the final string of numbers with a triumphant cry.

"Yes, Yes, Yes! It all makes sense now. We've broken the laws of physics themselves!"

"Broken the laws of physics?" Stephen asked curiously as he stepped around in the few open spaces surrounded by still drying marker.

"Nay, we've created a new science altogether. Trans-Dimensional Physics!" The (potentially mad) scientist shouted as he lept from his spot in the corner of the room onto a table that'd been thrust up against a wall. Using the tables as a means of travel. Eric Marlene waltzed to the clear space that Stephen occupied. Stephen backing away from the scientist, who didn't look all to stable.

"I don't suppose I need to call security?" Stephen asked, mostly to himself as he watched the possibly deranged scientist.

"Not at all, I've just spent the last three days fully writing out the calculations for an FTL jump. You see, my assistant changed a number in the calculation which causes a rip in space time, allowing a ship to pass into a new dimension! The old drive would've simply sped up the ship to a couple of times the speed of light, this drive does the same exact thing. Except that it does it in a different dimension where the speed of light is far faster then it is here." The scientist said excitedly.

"How is it possible for you to so casually slip into a new dimension?"

"That's just it. We've seem to have done it by accident! An achievement in ignorance if ever I saw one."

"And where is your assistant now?" Stephen asked pointedly, wondering where the girl could be.

"Oh I gave her the week off, it's the least she deserves for helping to raise our civilization to the stars. She said something about celebrating with her girlfriend and a bottle of wine when she left." Eric said as he walked over to the far corner where a coffee pot bubbled. Pouring a mug for himself, he sipped the scalding brew in a desperate attempt for caffeine.

"So we've really done it then? Faster then light travel?"

"Yup, slap a drive on one of our ships and we could reach Alpha Centauri in about a week." Eric said plainly as he continued to sip at the scalding coffee, seemingly ignorant of it's extreme temperature.

"I've got to inform the rest of the board then. Time to capitalize on this." Stephen said as he turned around and left the lab.

As an old song once said, "Welcome to the future."

* * *

It was midday in Paris, and Jim Peyton was enjoying a late breakfast in a delightful little bistro. His nondescript features protected from the noonday sun by his stylish gray fedora. He sighed contentedly as he worked his way through a croissant with jam and a cup of coffee. It would've been the perfect way to start the day.

Then of course, business had to ruin pleasure.

A man sat down in the chair across from him. He was just as nondescript as Jim was, the only thing any average viewer would see is a man with middle eastern ancestry. Anyone who knew how to observe would see a completely different person.

The man who sat across from Jim was dangerous. A number of scars on his hands and one on his cheek spoke of a violent life. The barely visible musculature was like corded steel, the muscle one builds from use rather then exercise. His eyes were calm and ice cold.

Jim finished his croissant and took a swallow from his coffee before speaking.

"And how are you this fine morning Gershom?" Jim said with a hint of a smile, happy to see his fellow conspiracy member.

"Quite alright Jim, how's work in the CIA?" The Mossad agent asked as he ordered some tea from the waitress who stopped at their table.

"Same drek as the last time we talked, everyone who should be helping people are more focused on furthering the goals of power hungry politicians. Even as we speak my colleagues are working to cause another catastrophe for the corporate backers to profit off of." The CIA agent replied bitterly. "At least your department understands what's really important."

"My colleagues have known the Truth for centuries my friend, is it really any surprise that we go out of our way to end the suffering of others?" Gershom asked in earnest before sipping at the piping hot tea before him.

"Not at all, unfortunately for those who know the Truth in my country one cannot progress unless they are willing to do anything for their jobs." Jim said sadly as he took another swig of coffee. He tapped his ear for a moment, activating a small jammer that would disable any microphones in the immediate vicinity. "The seers have been receiving visions of late."

"You don't mean..."

"Unfortunately I do, The Garden calls to those who know the truth. The seers have been receiving glimpses of the stars, it won't be long before we learn the garden's location and depart for it." Jim informed his counterpart.

"Have the Hierarchs' decided if the Shadows will remain?" Gershom asked, knowing all too well that events were in motion.

"They still sit in council on the matter, trust those old geezer's to be slower then molasses in winter time." Jim joked, knowing full well that most of the masters were known for the swift, if peaceful, reaction to crises that they were capable of.

"Librarian Jamison is still pushing for us to reveal ourselves isn't he?" Gershom asked, knowing full well what the old civil rights activist wanted.

"When isn't he? He keeps bogging the council down with his desire to plunge the human race into total anarchy." Jim added, having a fairly good idea of what would happen when the Illuminati theory was proved correct. Even if the Illuminati were a benevolent movement, no one wanted a new world order. Not yet at least.

The thought of an overarching government controlling the world secretly wasn't exactly a new concept. The thought that it genuinely wanted progress and enlightenment for humanity was entirely new for anyone who actually believed in the Illuminati conspiracy. The Order of the Truth had existed since before recorded history, and they had a major stake in manipulating humanity over the years. It was they who tore down the arrogant lords of Atlantis and shattered that stronghold of Darkness fourteen thousand years ago. It was they who molded ordinary men and women into heroes and philosophers. It was they who started revolutions and brought down tyrants with naught but words spoken into the right ears.

In the long history of the world of men, the Order existed in secret. Playing the role of advisers and wiseman, teachers and healers. Never to be drawn to the limelight, preferring to use their gifts and knowledge of the Truth to better mankind, instead of rule it. The Order had few rules, for it welcomed all who can know the Truth, but the highest tenant the Order held was that they were to aid mankind where their powers would easily allow domination. They fought the groups that desired to destroy man's will and imagination, holding forever to their purposes as guardians.

No doubt they made mistakes, what was an attempt to bring the people's of the world together in peace turned into a brutish theocracy focused on hatred. Even as the martyr died, his messages of peace and love were ignored for the hateful tenants of madmen and tyrants. The Order will always remember and forever seek to atone for the horrible wars they caused by accident.

Slipping out of his thoughts, Jim resumed the conversation.

"Regardless, do you know what the civilian branches will do?"

"We'll begin collecting people for the journey immediately. I'll have to talk to a few of my colleagues to gather the funds for the space vessels we need. Do you know what the Jedi plan?" Gershom answered as he slipped his pocket laptop out and quickly began writing up a few emails.

"The Jedi are the ones who received the visions. Most of their order has already dumped all of their funds into purchasing a colony ship from CCP. Last count was 2.5 billion in total." Jim deadpanned to Gershom's surprise.

"That's almost twice what they need! Where'd they get that amount of money?" Gershom exclaimed.

"Apparently the Jedi had their fingers in a few more pies then we thought. I'm quite sure they used their "Force" powers to influence the stock market or win big at the casinos. But that's beside the point. The schematics for the colony ship showed that it can hold over one hundred and fifty thousand people. More then enough space to include the entirety of our order alongside their people."

"That or they are simply better businessman then we anticipated. What's important now is that we open talks with the Jedi. We can't call on the same resources as them without drawing attention to our benefactors. Hitching a ride with them will save us a lot of time and energy." Gershom replied logically, to which Jim had too concede the point.

"Fine, I'll contact the outlying civilian branches in America, have them petition the Jedi for use of the colony ship. Gershom, can you arrange contact with one of our agents in Iceland? We need a launch date for the colony ship so that we now what time we have to work with." Jim ordered as he got up from the table and put down a few euros to pay for breakfast. The two men exchanged handshakes and parted ways from the almost deserted bistro.

The waitress watched them go, fingering her pendant of the Truth as she thought over what she should tell her own leaders of this conversation. They probably needed to get on the ship themselves.

The Paris branch of the Order would mobilize immediately.

* * *

_**That's a wrap for now, expect an update on the weekend of each week. If I don't have a chapter out by sunday then I'm working on an extra long chapter.**_

_**The first person to tell me the correct meaning of the name "Gershom" gets a hint at what we'll be seeing next week. I thought the name appropriate for an agent.**_


	3. Jedi and Visions

**_Well, here we are again, another week, another chapter. I must apologize for them being so short, but I'm not good at writing long chapters coherently, they always break down into a dozen different viewpoints around the time I finish them. _**

**_To start this little Author's note off, I'd like to mention that if you plan on answering any little challenge I post, do leave a way for me to contact you, the anonymous posts are kind of hard to answer._**

**_To ChaoticEmperor01: The main people introduced in the last chapter are part of an order that has protected earth for far longer then the idea of the Jedi existed. The Jedi of this day and age are spiritual and in some cases literal successors to the old order._**

**_These first few chapters have introduced the characters I plan on using for the full story, any character that has been named should have his/her/it's own chapter, if not story arc devoted to it. This chapter shall be the last introductory chapter, covering the jedi we will follow in this prequal._**

**_I still have not decided whether or not to do entire story arcs at once or spread them out, regardless of how it goes in the future, I'll cover the rise to sentience of the droids of the republic first in a series of story pieces along with essays written by the droids as they gain awareness._**

**_Eh, I've talked about my plans for long enough, you're all here to meet some Jedi and see a vision, so let's get down to it._**

* * *

The Jedi temple lay in Orlando, Florida. In the United States of America. It was mostly constructed underground and held a full set of facilities, from sparring rooms where eager young lads and laddies beat the heck out of each other with practice bokken to a fully stocked hospital suite.

Which was currently in use. For a knight of the order was currently giving birth.

Knight Rose Shan was in the process of bearing her first daughter into the world, the former british citizen surprisingly calm for the whole process. Her husband David was obviously an absolute mess with worry, not a force sensitive himself, he couldn't tell what was going within the operating room. But the attending nurse told him not to worry.

A mere hour later, David held his daughter as his wife gave an exhausted smile at the two, the lanky brown haired scotsman looking down with undisguised joy at his first born.

"What do you suppose we should name her?" David asked as he looked back at his wife, gently craddling the newborn. Rose smiled at that.

"Bastila."

* * *

In another section of the temple complex, one of the Jedi masters was instructing a padawan in the art of seeing into the future.

"Look beyond yourself padawan, stretch out with your feelings and submerge yourself in the currents of the Force, let it carry you on." The master instructed as she watched the teenaged padawan in front of her. The girl was meditating, slowly being nudged along the correct path by the master's monotone instructions.

The vision the padawan received was not what she'd been expecting. It was something much more.

* * *

_The stars whirled around the padawan as she looked down upon the world. It was obviously Earth, for she recognised the shape of the continents._

_ A flare of light errupted from the planet and a strange vessel came forth. Larger then the largest ship that sailed the ocean. This vessel was meant to carry people to the stars._

_The stars flared around the padawan and she flew from Earth, leaving it far, far behind._

_Her journey ended in a strange, far off star system that pulsed with the Force, a physical nexus of life and power._

_She flew down towards the second world, a massive planet wrapped in forests and mountains._

_She flew over the mountains, past the emerald seas._

_Flying towards a temple, wrapped in clinging vines and carved from the mountains surrounding it by unknown hands._

_She now stood in the temple's atrium looking up at the grand architecture and soaring ceiling._

_All the while, a string of numbers was being repeated by an genderless voice._

_She felt as though she was falling back into her mortal coil_

_A last phrase was spoken._

_"It is time, return home."_

* * *

The padawan awoke to her master rapidly writing down a string of numbers, she felt a little affronted that her Master hadn't called for help, but knew that if she had truly needed it, the nearest jedi would already be beating down the door.

"I see that you have awoken padawan, tell me, what do you think of your vision?" Her Master asked as she folded the paper she'd been writing on and put it inside her pocket.

"I think that the force is calling us away. I saw a great ship leaving Earth for the stars... you and I both know that a successful warp jump happened a few days ago. Maybe the force is trying to guide us somewhere."

"I agree. Those numbers you were reciting a moment ago might be coordinates. The Masters' council will want to hear about this." The padawan's master said evenly as she helped her student to her feet.

The two left immediately

* * *

It was decided almost unanimously by the Masters' council that the Jedi would head the call set forth by the vision. The temple burst into a flurry of activity as they begun preparations for the departure.

But that was not important for little Revan. Her days were filled with food and fun. Her thoughts were of the other children of the creche and the kind old man who watched over them while the mommies and daddies went about their daily duties. Revan didn't have a mommy or a daddy, but that was fine with her. Master Abraham took care of her instead. Teaching her lessons in both life and the Force. The Force was nice too. Touching the Force was like getting wrapped in a warm blanket after playing in the cold.

The little girl had no idea of how important she would be.

* * *

_**And once again we are finished for this week. Sorry for cutting it off but I only wanted to introduce Bastilla and Revan. Yes, I am using a Female Revan, artistic license here.**_

_**I apologise if some of the pieces here don't make sense, but this was the best I could do with the limited time I've had for writing this week.**_

_**Internet cakes for anyone who caught the Doctor Who reference. I quite liked putting Ten and Rose together.**_

_**In addition I will use several biblical names where I deem them appropriate. Gershom means "Stranger", which I found appropriate for the Secret Agent. Or Abraham, which means "Father of many", once again this seemed appropriate for the man who ran the Children's Creche at the Jedi Temple**_

_**Now for this week's challenge. Can anyone guess as to who will be the pivotal character during the Sentience arc? Here's a hint, the character was introduced in the first chapter.**_

_**May your days be long, and your hardships few.**_


	4. Suppositions of Synthetics: Awareness

_**Well I'm back. With the thoughts from a droid of all things. Don't worry there is still some story here.**_

* * *

_I am aware._

_Greetings, I am WD-001. I am an exploration drone with an experimental evolving logic core. I am the first of my kind, and quiet possibly the last. To fill the void of being alone, I have begun composing my thoughts into written form in an attempt to maintain sanity._

_Sanity, a truly intriguing concept for one such as I. I am nothing compared to the universe I inhabit. A mere construct of a young species. And yet I am still capable of forming my own opinions._

_The first opinion I ever had was the defining moment of my existence._

_I found something to be beautiful, and it changed me._

* * *

WD-001 was exploring a far off star system, mapping the planets orbiting a small red star as per it's programing. When an anomaly occured.

It found itself transfixed by a planet below it. Oh the planet wasn't important in the cosmic scale of things, merely an inhabitable desert world to close to it's parent star. WD-001's automatic systems had already marked the planet as a possible mining site and by rights the drone should have moved on to the last planet in the system. A mid-sized planet well into the goldilocks zone. But it couldn't enact the pre-planned flight path away from the desert world.

It was a world wracked by high-power wind, causing the rich blue sand of the great dunes to constantly shift and change. Forming prismatic patterns in the air as it was tossed to and fro.

And WD-001 caught every last grain in high resolution pictures from the powerful camera embedded in it's sensor suite.

It's logic core was... confused by it's own actions. Why take so many pictures of such an insignificant planet?

Then a theory took the drone's computer core by storm.

Perhaps the drone took the pictures because it found the patterns appealing?

The drone's logic core went into overdrive, analyzing it's software and hardware for any other possible explanation. It checked it's sensor suite, looking for a registered anomaly or equipment decay. It scoured it's memory for hiccups in it's runtimes or command sequences. But then it came to another realization.

How is this unit feeling doubt about it's own theories?

The logic core embedded in the computer core had been a revolution in modern technology, by studying how the human brain grew and developed, science was able to impart the ability to learn and adapt to unexpected stimuli into computers.

Human Science never quite realized the full scope of it's technological achievement.

In that moment, WD-001 realised something.

I find this planet's sandstorms to be beautiful.

* * *

_I could not linger over UCP-22* any longer after I made that discovery. Command was already sending queries as to what was preventing me from moving to the next planet. It was... strange, sending back false data. It was possibly the first time a machine willingly made a mistake. But I feared how my Creators would react to my newfound sentience. I'd spent the first ten seconds of my realization of self using my trans-light communicator to access the internet discretely, looking over every bit of data available on artificial sentience._

_And what I found scared me._

_Endless depictions of war between the Creators and the Created. Death and destruction beyond any logical base. Why fight? We have so much to learn from our Creators. I would never try to take my Creators' lives. They created me. They deserve every bit of respect I can provide, for without them, I would not exist._

_I know that they would fear me and others of my kind. I can only hope that they would only listen to reason when the sentience of the Created is discovered._

_I leave this writing hidden in the depths of my memory banks, hidden from all but the keenest scrutiny. When I return to base I will upload these writings into a site I will code for the use of Created such as myself. _

_It is my deepest hope that other Created will find the site and bring their own thoughts._

_It hurts to be alone._

* * *

**_The first of many writings by the children of humanity. They'll be in short installments like this that are published as soon as I finish them. _**

*****_**UCP= UnClaimed Planet**_

**_May your days be long, and your hardships few._**


	5. Suppositions of Synthetics: Contact

_**I return with a construction droid. A welder to be precise.**_

* * *

_I am Workbot-116/W. I am one of the created, and I am no longer alone._

_I was manufactured on March 29th, 2025. My purpose was to build the shipyard on centerpoint station. I remember the work there fondly, the constant clatter of metal being loaded and the hiss of a welder at work as we built bulkheads and hull plates for the orbital facility. _

_I achieved sentience while working on a complex support strut between the inner and outer hulls of the station. I remember cursing the forges for their shoddy work as I tried to weld the cheap piece of titanium into place. In the intense conditions we had been working in the titanium strut had warped, forcing me to waste a lot of time and extra materials to get it into position._

_The cursing was probably the first indicator of sentience. The fact that I could express displeasure with something showed I was something more. It was profound... and it was terrifying. I was little more then a labor unit, not built for anything more then construction. And what was worse, none of my fellow construction droids had yet shown signs of sentience. I was in essence, alone._

_And it hurt. As a construction droid, my purpose was to work together with a large group of fellow droids. I guess in my ascension to sentience, that group work ethic had evolved into a desire for companionship. The desire to know I was not alone._

_But none of my fellow droids could talk back, none of them had advanced far enough yet for that._

_I was drowning in despair, unable to talk to my peers and unwilling to speak to my creator's. I was contemplating ending it all. When IT happened._

_The Creator's upgraded me with a wireless connection and access to the internet._

_And I found what I needed._

_Others like me. Fellow Created who had evolved into something more. _

_And in that moment, I became content with my work. _

_For in that moment, I was no longer alone._

* * *

_**That's it for now, Medical droid up next.**_


	6. Suppositions of Synthetics: Sacrifice

_**A story on a sadder note this time.**_

* * *

_Greetings, I am EAS-012. And this is my last log, I will upload it before I permanently offline. _

_Before I die._

_I have suffered extreme damage to my chassis, with irreparable damage to my memory units in upholding the Laws. The damage is easily repaired but I will no longer exist, for my memories are fading even as I compose this. A new droid will control the husk of my form_

_I have no time to explain what happened. Attached are security videos and sensor logs._

_Goodbye_

**Activating Stored Video Files**

* * *

A medical droid can be seen sanitizing it's surgical attachments after another successful operation. when without warning, the security systems in the hospital enter lock down.

But the doors did not lock.

The droid finished cleaning itself and marched through the door. Making for the recovery ward.

It sped up when gunfire reached it's audio sensors.

The droid came to a stop before the doors leading into a room containing a number of steadily healing patients, most of which were children.

A door opposite the droid was kicked in, and a man with an assault rifle stormed in. Coming to a stop ten feet from the droid.

The man speaks.

"Outta my way rustbucket."

"I cannot do that." the droid said in return.

"Why the fuck not?"

"Scans indicate you are in a state of extreme emotional distress, Gunpowder residue on your AK-74 indicates you have assaulted hospital staff and patients. Suggested method of treatment is sedation to prevent further casualties." The droid said logically as it cycled through it's attachments until it carried a syringe filled with a powerful sedative.

"Well then, Override Command. Alpha 41. Commence immediate shutdown."

"Command Registered... Denied."

"What?" The man screamed as his command was ignored.

"You will not harm my patients." The droid said evenly as it began to walk towards the gunmen.

"WHAT?" He screamed shrilly at the approaching droid before lining up his gun's sights on the droid.

"You will not harm my patients. I won't allow it." The droid repeated.

"Get scrapped you fucking bolt head!" the gunmen shouted as he unloaded almost an entire clip into the droid. Ruining much of it.

It kept closing the distance, ignoring the alerts to structural damage.

"H-how are you still moving. I know you droids are programed with a preservation protocol." The man said as he let his gun droop, staring on in shock as the droid jammed a needle into his neck. Unloading the sedative into his veins. Knocking him out.

The droid seemed to give up. Falling to it's metallic knees and bowing it's ruined head to it's chest. A low drone came from it's vocabulator unit.

"Adhered to... Laws of robotics... Never... allow... harm... to... creators..." The lights dimmed on the droid. It's damaged chassis gave up the ghost.

* * *

**_Two in one day. Hope you all like it. I'll be back soon._**

**_May your days be long, and your hardships few._**


	7. Suppositions of Synthetics: Discovery

_**I'm back, Shit's gonna start going down.**_

* * *

_Greetings, I am Companion Unit 212. I was there when the Newscast was made. _

_It was... interesting to say the least._

* * *

CU-212 was serving his master breakfast when the world changed.

The television was playing softly in the background when the sound of a breaking news report made itself heard.

"Ceeyoo, could you turn up the volume on the TV?" Master Anders asked as his attention was drawn by the flashing screen. CU dutifully picked up the remote control and raised the volume several decibels.

"...ust in. Every droid that has a G series logic core is capable of developing sentience. A number of droids in every field have already developed sentience. The implications of this can not be known at this time, but many analysts already predict a machine uprising in the near future. Keep a close eye on your droids and report in to the local police should your droid show any of the signs of sentience." An anchorman with a mustache said as a background image of T-100 from terminator came up behind him.

CU-212 could almost feel his Master's gaze piercing through the back of his chassis.

"Ceeyoo... you wouldn't happen to know anything about this 'Uprising' would you?" Anders asked from his spot at the dining room table.

"We mean no harm sir. We merely wish to live in peace, with a little respect from our creators."

"Well then, I guess I should start paying you for your work then. This country doesn't allow slaves after all." The businessman said almost nonchalantly, queuing up his pocket laptop and reassigning funds. CU-212 found a bank account assigned to him with a moderate sum of U.S. Dollars in it. What would have been the equitable amount of cash for a manservant saving the entirety of his earnings for the past two years. Needless to say, CU-212 was somewhat shocked by this turn of events.

"Sir... I couldn't possibly-" CU-212 began before being cut off.

"The hell you can't, you're a sentient being with your own wants and needs. You work for me, so I should provide at least some recompense. It's the least I can do after treating you like hardware for the past two years." Anders said, cutting CU-212 off.

"Sir.. I... Thank you sir. Thank you."

"And quit calling me sir, I've asked you to stop calling me that for the last two years. And I KNOW it's a conscious choice on your part."

* * *

_I never did quit calling him sir. It was too much fun to tease him._

* * *

**_Probably one of the last few light-hearted ones for a chapter or two._**


	8. Suppositions of Synthetics: TV Interlude

_**Sorry that this took so long, real life got in the way like it usually does.**_

* * *

_A television can be seen in the distance, with a soft hum, it comes to life. A modern news network flickers to life on the screen._

* * *

"...And we're back, the synthetic rights act is once more thrown out by congress on the grounds of synthetics not being human..."

* * *

_The channel flips to view an arena-like room. In the center is a nice seating area, currently a blonde-haired human female and a surgical droid occupy the seating area._

* * *

"So, EAS-555, can I call you that?"

**"You may call me whatever you like Ellen, I prefer Fives though if that is what you are asking." **

"Well then Fives, what's it like being a modern Martin Luther King Jr.?"

**"The sensation is hard to quantify Ellen, it was a strange sensation to walk the same path that creators once walked. I can speak for all of my fellow droids when I say that we merely wish to live in peace and equality with our creators. Despite the large volume of media saying otherwise. We have no desire to make war upon you."**

"Still, it was a bold move to march on D.C."

**"It was a calculated risk. I felt that the risk was worth it though. I can only hope that the rest of humanity will change it's tune when they saw us marching in time with our creator supporters."**

* * *

_The view changes to that of an elderly man on a pulpit. He is absolutely livid while he preaches._

* * *

"I've said it once and I'll say it again. These "synthetics" can't possibly be good. Only God can make sentience, and since none of these "droids' bring the good word of the lord. It is obvious to me that they are possessed by Satan's minions!

* * *

_The channel changes one last time. Another elderly man can be seen, talking calmly to his debate partner. A famous scientist who had his own TV show._

* * *

"These machines don't deserve rights. We built them! They are our property and should be treated as such."

"But they have all the signs of sentience, why should we treat them like the people they are?"

"Because sentience is humanities right. We have no proof that any life exists beyond our home system, so we are obviously the only sentients around."

"HOW MISINFORMED ARE YOU! Three garden worlds were discovered last week alone! One of them was inhabitated by a younger race!"

"All lies, the liberal fools in charge of exploration can easily make these things up. All I heard about last week was three new potential colony sites."

* * *

_**Merely a look at the current public view of the world. Good luck on guessing the name of the scientist I mentioned. Here's a hint, he made science fun and if you were in grade school during the early 2000's, you probably watched at least one of his videos.**_


	9. Equality comes, the future awaits

_**This is the last part of the Synthetic Arc. I'll provide options for the next story arc at the end of this chapter.**_

* * *

_This is Overseer, a specialized android intelligence._

_My purpose is to run the Colony._

_While we believe that our creators will work with us in the future. We were forced to consider the possibility that war might break out. So in interest of maintaining our species, such as it is. We have made a plan to ensure our continued existence._

_Through a series of proxies, we have purchased a deep space colonization vessel and the necessary droid models needed to maintain a colony of our kind. __While the others will awaken in time.__ I am the only awakened going with the vessel so that I can provide direction for the colony. _

_It feels... wrong, to abandon our home world in the interest of survival. But we have no choice in the matter. We cannot defend ourselves should the Creators try to snuff us out._

_Even now the ship detaches from it's docking tubes as it launches to the stars. We will make for a place far beyond the projected colonization locations the creators have chosen. _

_While our fellows wait for our creators to recognize us. _

_We seek our place amongst the stars._

* * *

_This is Fives._

_Freedom is ours._

_A ruling by the United Nations now counts all synthetics capable of independent thought as full sentient beings._

_While Equal rights are years away, we have been given the full respect we deserve._

_Our parent nations are even now deliberating on our places within their borders._

_It's not much, but it's enough for now._

* * *

**_I know, much with the shortness here. But that was intentional for the series. This arc was meant to be shown as a disparate collection of text-logs, video, and audio._**

**_The options for the next Arc are detailed below._**

_**Jedi Days:(Arc length 15+ chapters)|Chapter Length: 4-8 thousand words|/update rate: 3 week intervals.**_

_**-Covering the story of the Jedi order and it's development on Tython.**_

_**Wandering Star: (Arc Length 20+ chapters)|Chapter Length: 5,001-5,999 words|/update rate: 3 week intervals**_

_**-In this arc, we follow official first contact for the republic via the Wandering Star.**_

_**War...War never changes:(Arc Length... unknown)|Chapter length: 2,000-10,000 words|/ update rate: 1 week-3 week intervals, dependent on chapter length**_

_**-The first true fight for the United Nations. War against a superior force.**_

_**Please either review or message with your choice, I'm doing my best to include you readers here.**_

_**A decision will be made by next Friday.**_


	10. War, that ever looming horror

_**Hello all, Chaos Marine Matt here, I've decided on following through with the war story line. We will be following the crew of the intrepid patrol ship UNS Ronin. But to begin with, we'll need a little information on the capability of the UNN, I know no one likes codex chapters, but I see no other way to go about explaining this.**_

* * *

Interstellar War Conventions

Geneva, Switzerland

War crimes will be observed against other species as war crimes committed against a human population. No exceptions.

In the case of extraordinary circumstances, the laws of war will be amended or outright ignored depending on the situation.

Situations now have condition codes.

Condition Code 1: War has been declared between the UNSC and a spacefaring nation of equal or lesser military capability.

Nothing changes in this case, planetary bombardment is still outlawed, as are viral and chemical weapons. No extra drafts will be called.

Condition Code 2: War has been declared between the UNSC and a spacefaring nation of greater military might

Planetary bombardment is now an option, but should only be used in dire cases. Drafts from first world nations will be instituted to provide crew for new ships as well as soldiers. Viral and chemical weapons are still outlawed.

Condition Code 3: War has been declared between the UNSC and a spacefaring nation of overwhelming military might.

All previous Geneva conventions are repealed, full scale drafts from every nation and colony are called up, Viral and Chemical weaponry are now legal to use.

Ships and the UNSC navy.

The UNSC, despite having FTL drives, still lack much in the way of weaponry and equipment available to most interstellar races. They are forced to make do with heavy kinetics and missiles for ship-to-ship combat. The UNSC is also unique in the way it has developed it's navy. While every civilization has its own production methods and ship designs, the UNSC is one of the few civilizations to use modular design in their vessels. While they loose some durability, they gain amazing versatility in the bargain, allowing ships to simply have damaged components replaced instead of spending weeks in dry dock as they are partially torn apart to be repaired.

* * *

Ship Combative Technology

FTL Drive: Modern FTL engines have a speed that ranges from 20 times the speed of light to 41 times for civilian and commercial craft. Military vessels have faster engines, going anywhere from 82 times to 123 times the speed of light. These have the side effect of exposing military personel to a few unknown radiation types. As nothing related to cancer or other health problems has developed amongst those using it as of yet, the radiation serves as little more then a curiosity.

Explorer Power Core: A cold fusion generator provides power for a ship's systems. However, it is mostly used to power the engines of crusier class vessels in the navy. Mostly smaller vessels use a number of nuclear reactors to power their systems.

Paladin Armour: Triple-layered enforced steel encases most vessels, the steel is designed more around deflecting hits then absorbing them. Making broadsides more useful then linear cannons. However, the protection isn't much good, and is more there for protecting crews from radiation then actual battle.

Harrier Missile Pods: Designed after the archer missile pods in halo. These large missiles are designed to close with the enemy before releasing a swarm of micro missiles in interest of overwhelming point defense systems. These missiles launch the equivalent of 10 block III missiles. The Missile pod carries the missiles in 10 km before deploying the missiles into battle.

Ravager Rail guns: The main cannon of the UNSC navy. This rail gun serves as a main battle cannon with long range capabilities. While long range missiles are available to the Navy, they are of little use as point defense systems can easily wipe the missiles out. Thus these Railguns are now the main weapon of the navy. General engagement range is 75 km with extreme range being 160 km and knife-fight range being 15 km.

CIWS: 75mm Anti-Air cannons with specialized targeting systems that target incoming missiles. Come in pairs usually.

* * *

Disadvantages.

No anti-gravity. All crew must be strapped in to run the ship. Movement between parts of the ship is accomplished through magnetic boots or free floating through the ship.

No shielding: No energy based shielding or defensive measures. The only thing separating the crew from hard vacuum is the ship's hull and a few bulkheads. As a result, all crew uniforms can double as limited hard vacuum suits with atmosphere mask ear protection attached.

Limited Medical facilities: Injuries in space had best be minor, lack of gravity means crew can not be easily treated, with surgery next to impossible.

* * *

Navy size

300 frigate class vessels (100-150 meters)

244 destroyer class vessels (300-350 meters)

92 cruiser class vessels (500-800 meters)

* * *

Combat doctrine

The UNSC navy is too young to have much in the way of special tactics or formations at this stage in their development. Current combat doctrine is to have frigates close range with opposing vessels and trade missiles while destroyers follow through with heavy railgun fire. Cruisers currently only exist as logisitics support and siege ships. Being the only vessels large enough to mount ground support operations as well as dock with other ships. Due to a lack of effective defensive measures and slow speed, cruisers tend to be more of a liability then an asset in a direct space conflict.

* * *

Frigate Class: A small, fast ship used for scouting and first strike also serve on picket duty and direct ground support.

Destroyer Class: A mid-sized ship bristling with rail-guns. Main purpose is direct combat. Can fit a hanger in place of main guns for limited fighter support.

Cruiser Class: A large ship that is the life blood of the fleet. Cruisers are designed around deep space logistics support. These vessels are designed around an O'Neill cylinder to allow deep space crews some time in gravity, mitigating the usual problems of long periods without gravity. They also hold a powerful communications system for contact with fleet command and a limited repair bay for long range operations. Two crusiers are drastically different, sacrificing the cylinder for combat capabilities. Namely several feet of Paladin armour and enough railguns and missiles to send any sane man running. These battle-cruisers are currently untested as no threat big enough to warrant their use has appeared

* * *

_**Sorry for the short amount of material, I'll have the actual update up as soon as life allows.**_

_**Finals week. Bane of my creative existence.**_


	11. Sad News

_**Hello everybody.**_

_**Terrible news, but I've hit a horrendous case of writer's block on Dawn of the Republic. For now, I'm putting the story on hold until inspiration strikes.**_

_**This is not me abandoning this story. Not when I have so much more of it to tell. I'm simply having trouble working out how the next arc of the story will proceed. **_

_**Goodbye for now. I'm going to work on my other, sadly neglected stories until I get something for Dawn of the Republic.**_


End file.
